FRAMESHIFT SUPPRESSION IN SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE. II. GENETIC PROPERTIES OF GROUP II SUPPRESSORS

Michael R. Culbertson ¹, Karen M. Underbrink ², and Gerald R. Fink ³

¹ Laboratories of Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
² Laboratories of Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
³ Department of Biochemistry, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853

Suppressors of ICR-induced mutations that exhibit behavior similar to bacterial frameshift suppressors have been identified in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The yeast suppressors have been divided into two groups. One of these groups (Group II: SUF1, SUF3, SUF4, SUF5 and SUF6) appears to include a set of informational suppressors in which the vehicle of suppression is glycyl-tRNA. Some of the genetic properties of Group II suppressors are described in this communication.——Corevertants of the Group II frameshift mutations his4–519 and leu2–3 have been characterized to determine the spectrum of reversion events induced by the frameshift mutagen ICR-170. Seventythree ICR-induced corevertants were analyzed. With the exception of one corevertant, which carried an allele of SUF1, all carried alleles of SUF3 or SUF5. SUF1, SUF3, SUF4 and SUF6 were represented among spontaneous and UV-induced corevertants. In the course of these experiments one of the suppressors was mapped. SUF5, the probable structural gene for tRNA^GLY1, is located between ade2 and ade9 on chromosome XV.——SUF1, SUF4 and SUF6 have novel properties and comprise a distinct subset of suppressors. Although these suppressors show no genetic linkage to each other, they share several common features including lethality in haploid pairwise combinations, reduced tRNA^GLY3 isoacceptor activity and increased efficiency of suppression in strains carrying the cytoplasmically inherited [PSI] element. In addition, strains carrying SUF1, SUF4 or SUF6 are phenotypically unstable and give rise to mitotic Suf⁺ segregants at high frequency. These segregants invariably contain a linked, second-site mutation that maps in or adjacent to the suppressor gene itself. Strains carrying any of these suppressors also give rise to mitotic segregants that exhibit enhanced efficiency of suppression; mutations responsible for this phenotype map at two loci, upf1 and upf2. These genes show no genetic linkage to any of the Group II suppressors.——Methods that permit positive selection for mutants with decreased or enhanced efficiency of suppression have been devised in order to examine large numbers of variants. The importance of these interacting mutants is underscored by their potential utility in studying suppressor function at the molecular level.

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